Super Bowl 60 happened on Feb. 8, with yet another iconic –– and sentimental –– halftime show performance.
Fresh off his three Grammy wins on Feb. 1, Bad Bunny took to the Apple Music stage at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. He was the first solo Latino artist to headline the Super Bowl, and his performance was the first Super Bowl performance to be almost entirely in Spanish.
The show began with a farm worker in a field, presumed to represent the historical sugar cane fields in Puerto Rico, where Bad Bunny is from. The farm worker exclaims, “Qué rico es ser Latino. ¡Hoy se bebe!” Translating to: “How rich/great it is to be Latino. Tonight, we’re drinking!” This sets the tone for the performance.
After the intro, the performance goes directly into the instrumental of “Tití Me Preguntó,” with Bad Bunny walking through farmers in the sugar cane field. He sports a jersey with Ocasio, his last name, and the number 64, a tribute to his late uncle who taught him about the NFL, according to a statement from Bad Bunny to USA Today. Throughout the fields, there were scattered pieces of Latino and Puerto Rican culture, including a Piraguas cart, an outside grill for tacos, several grandparents playing dominoes, girls getting their nails done and even a jeweler stand.
The scene then transitions to Bad Bunny’s iconic “Casita,” a set piece that’s commonly utilized on his residency tour where he notoriously features dancing celebrities. The Super Bowl was certainly no exception, with appearances from Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Alix Earle, Young Miko, Karol G and even Pedro Pascal. The choreography from the dancers surrounding the Casita was electric and nothing short of what one would expect from a Bad Bunny performance.
After this, Bad Bunny shifts to a shortened version of his song “Party,” remixed with “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR.” He then falls through his Casita into the middle of a family dinner, dusts himself off, smiles, then kicks the door down to the beat drop of his song “EoO.” The song is remixed with various Latin-music hits, including “Pa’ Que Retozen,” “Dale Don Dale,” “Noche de travesura,” and “Gasolina.” This element was straight out of a club-style music video, with dancers and sureto-be legendary choreography. The scene cuts to Bad Bunny on top of a truck surrounded by dancers, singing and dancing to the song.
From there, the camera pans to violinists playing the intro to “MONACO,” in which Bad Bunny delivers a heartfelt message to the audience: “Mi nombre es Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, y si hoy estoy aquí en el Super Bowl 60, es porque nunca, nunca dejé de creer en mí. Tú también deberías de creer en ti. Vales más de lo que piensas. Confía en mí,” which translates to, “My name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, and if I’m here today at Super Bowl 60, it’s because I never, ever stopped believing in myself. You should also believe in yourself. You’re worth more than you think. Trust me,” according to Forbes.
It was a message to everyone watching to always believe in yourself, and to never count yourself out, because in that very moment, Benito himself was achieving his dreams and breaking boundaries.
Then, there seems to be a wedding scene –– which was later revealed to be a real marriage that Bad Bunny was invited to –– and in turn, he invited the couple to get married during the Super Bowl, with Benito himself as a witness. The wedding scene then revealed Lady Gaga, wearing a modern flamenco dress and a Flor de Maga –– Puerto Rico’s national flower. She burst into a salsa version of her pop-hit “Die with a Smile,” and proceeded to dance with Bad Bunny to his song “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” with the wedding party. An iconic moment emerged when Bad Bunny started dancing with a little girl and woke up a child from a make-shift bed out of wedding chairs –– a situation that many, including myself, are familiar with if they had ever been to a Latino wedding.
Bad Bunny then falls off his Casita and into the arms of more of his dancers, cuing the intro to his song “NUEVAYoL.” The scene was in front of “La Marqueta,” a replica of a Bodega, Bar and Grill and a Barber shop, paying homage to the “Nuyorican” lifestyle (a Puerto Rican individual who lives in New York), which is in line with the song.
In a break from the song, Bad Bunny’s Grammy speech is being watched by a family on an old-school television, when Bad Bunny brings his Album of the Year Grammy award to a young boy who was watching with his parents. Some have speculated this represents Bad Bunny himself as a child, while some have speculated it is for future generations. Either way, the impact and inspiration of the scene cannot be denied. Bad Bunny was sending a message to any Latino kid –– or anyone, for that matter –– that they must be resilient and confident.
A rendition of “LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii,” was then performed by Ricky Martin, a true icon in the Latin music industry. The message about modern-day colonialism in the song cannot be denied and shows the audience the importance of remembering one’s culture, with a spin only Ricky Martin’s voice could portray.
The show then transitions to Bad Bunny holding a Puerto Rican Flag in front of flickering telephone poles –– a representation of the many blackouts Puerto Rico has experienced due to natural disasters. This is all to the tune of “El Apagón,” which is an ode to Puerto Rican pride.
The song then remixes with “CAFé CON RON,” which is another song that highlights Puerto Rican identity. The scene switches to a plethora of flag-runners, holding Latin, Central and South American flags, as well as flags for Canada and the United States. Bad Bunny then says his first English words of the show: “God Bless America,” and proceeds to name each country whose flag was presented, leaving Puerto Rico for last, saying, “and my motherland, mi barrio (my neighborhood), Puerto Rico, seguimos aquí (we are still here),” while holding a football that says “TOGETHER, WE ARE AMERICA.”
To conclude the exhilarating performance, the giant screens at Levi’s Stadium read “THE ONLY THING MORE POWERFUL THAN HATE IS LOVE,” as Bad Bunny jumped, danced and shouted to “DtMF.
Overall, Bad Bunny left a legacy of Latino excellence on the Super Bowl field. The representation of his heritage, attention to detail, and scenery of the show can be felt throughout the entire performance. Bad Bunny utilized his spotlight to highlight his home, celebrate culture and emphasize the need for love, which cannot be discredited.